SUNDERLAND paid the price for sloppy defensive errors as they crashed out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking at the hands of Championship rivals Stoke City.

The Black Cats gifted Stoke an early opener from the spot but levelled in the second half through substitute Milan Aleksic. Regis Le Bris' side looked the more likely winners from that point on, but handed Stoke a winner with eight minutes of extra time remaining.

New Sunderland signing Enzo Le Fee was watching on from the stands after being introduced to the fans before kick-off.

Here's how the game played out and the main talking points:

STOKE’S GIFT

Tom Cannon left it late to score against Sunderland when these sides met just a few weeks ago, with the striker rifling in Stoke’s winner in the final minute at the bet365 Stadium.

On this occasion, he was gifted the opener after just four minutes, the Leicester City loanee making no mistake from the spot. It was Luke O’Nien who fouled Lewis Koumas but the defender was only trying to clear up the mess made by Dan Neil and Simon Moore. The midfielder’s poor back-pass was heavy and Moore couldn’t deal with it, attempting to pass to O’Nien rather than hoofing clear to safety.

Had it not been for O’Nien’s sliding interception 10 minutes before the break, Sunderland’s sloppy defensive play would have led to a second goal, Moore’s distribution again poor.

The Black Cats did improve as the first half went on but Viktor Johansson, so impressive in the two league meetings between the sides, didn’t have a save to make. Adil Aouchiche curled wide, Aaron Connolly hit the wall with a poor free-kick and O’Nien headed over Sunderland’s best chance just before the break.

INJURY BLOW – BUT AN INSTANT IMPACT

Sunderland were dealt a fresh injury blow when Alese was stretchered off on the hour mark. The defender has endured some rotten luck with injuries in the last 12 months and looked distraught as he was carried off the pitch.

Zak Johnson replaced Alese, while Aleksic was also introduced in place of Chris Rigg. And Aleksic made an instant impact, levelling for the Black Cats just four minutes after coming on. The midfielder was picked out by Aouchiche and calmly slotted beyond Johansson.

The goal changed the game and sparked Sunderland into life. And it was the hosts who were the team pushing for the winner in the 90 minutes. Aouchiche, whose influence grew after he created the equaliser, impressively wriggled into space and had one shot saved by Johansson, and Connolly had two efforts blocked from inside the box. Johansson denied Connolly a stunning winner in the last minute when the striker superbly took down a high long ball and took aim from distance.

DEBUTS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHANGES

Le Bris had promised to go strong with his team selection but still made five changes, with Harrison Jones making his full debut and Connolly and Leo Hjelde both getting rare opportunities. Connolly endured a frustrating first hour but grew into the game when Sunderland improved after substitute Aleksic’s equaliser, while Hjelde, who moved from centre-half to left-back after Alese had to be stretchered off in the second half, was composed.

That was also the case with Salis Abdul Samed after he was introduced for his long-awaited debut with just over 10 minutes of regular time to play - until the midfielder was involved in the mix-up with Neil that led to Niall Ennis' winner.

After finishing normal time on top, Sunderland were the better side in the first half of extra time but looked disjoined in the second after changing shape following Nazariy Rusyn's introduction in place of Hjelde. The game still looked likely for penalties until Ennis pounced on a poor pass from Samed, rounded Moore and rolled home.

LE FEE'S INTRODUCTION

The signing of Le Fee didn’t go through in time for the midfielder to feature on Saturday, but the midfielder was in attendance at the Stadium of Light.

He was introduced to fans before kick-off, heading out to the centre-circle to take the applause of supporters before posing for official photographs.

The statement signing was confirmed late on Friday night after Le Fee had jetted in from Italy 24 hours earlier.

The 24-year-old will now benefit from a week of training before being available to make his debut at Burnley on Friday night.

“I thought about Enzo because I know him and this transfer window is very specific [in what we need],” said boss Regis Le Bris of his new recruit.

“We know that there are only four months left and so if we can find a player who is really connected with a good level of confidence, this is better. It's very clear with him about the personality, the footballer and his knowledge of our game model. So for that, I think it's a good idea for us.”

Quizzed on how Le Fee will fit in, he said: “We played with a 4-4-2 at Lorient, a 3-4-3 but mainly a 4-4-2 in the first season and he played as one of the sixes, as an eight. He has played as a ten and even I think on two or three occasions as a left winger. So he's very adaptable, very connected with his team mates.

“He is very direct and so is very connected with our idea of fast attacks, the connection between recovering the ball and making the link quickly with the quick forwards.”